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In 1945, on May 8, in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin) at 22.43 Central European time, the final Act of unconditional surrender fascist Germany and its armed forces. This act is called final for a reason, since it was not the first.
From the moment the Soviet troops closed the ring around Berlin, the German military leadership faced historical question about the preservation of Germany as such. For obvious reasons, German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR.
To sign the surrender to the allies, the German command sent a special group and on the night of May 7 in the city of Reims (France) a preliminary act of surrender of Germany was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against the Soviet army.
However, an unconditional condition Soviet Union the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany remained as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. The Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims to be only an interim document, and was also convinced that the act of surrender of Germany should be signed in the capital of the aggressor country.
At the insistence of the Soviet leadership, generals and Stalin personally, representatives of the Allies met again in Berlin and on May 8, 1945 signed another act of surrender of Germany together with the main winner - the USSR. That is why the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany is called final.
The ceremony of solemn signing of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin Military Engineering School and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. The final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany and its armed forces bears the signatures of Field Marshal W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy Admiral Von Friedeburg, and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the Allied side, the Act was signed by G.K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.
After the signing of the Act, the German government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops completely laid down their arms. Between May 9 and May 17, Soviet troops captured about 1.5 million. German soldiers and officers, as well as 101 generals. The Great Patriotic War ended with the complete victory of the Soviet army and its people.
In the USSR, the signing of the final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War Soviet people against Nazi invaders May 9 was declared Victory Day.
Kyiv, May 8 – RIA Novosti Ukraine. Seventy-one years ago the Act of Unconditional Surrender was signed Nazi Germany.
Below is some background information.
On May 8, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. legal document, which established a truce on the fronts of World War II directed against Germany, obliging the German armed forces to cease resistance, surrender personnel and transfer materiel to the enemy, and actually meant Germany’s exit from the war.
The document marked the years 1941-1945 and the end of World War II in Europe.
The act of surrender was signed twice.
IN recent months During the existence of the Nazi regime in Germany, the authorities intensified numerous attempts to conclude a separate peace with the Western powers. German generals planned to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR. To sign the surrender in Reims (France), where the headquarters of the commander of the Western Allies, US Army General Dwight Eisenhower, was located, the German command sent a special group that tried to achieve a separate surrender on the Western Front, but the Allied governments did not consider it possible to enter into such negotiations.
Under these conditions, the German envoy Alfred Jodl agreed to the final signing of the act of surrender, having previously received permission from the German leadership, but the authority given to Jodl retained the wording to conclude a “truce agreement with General Eisenhower’s headquarters.”
On May 7, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed for the first time in Reims. On behalf of the German High Command it was signed by the Chief of Operations Staff of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces, Colonel General Alfred Jodl, on the Anglo-American side by Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Walter Bedell Smith, on behalf of the USSR - by a representative of the Supreme High Command Headquarters at Allied command, Major General Ivan Susloparov.
The Act was also signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff national defense France Brigadier General Francois Sevez - as a witness. The surrender of Nazi Germany came into force on May 8 at 23.01 Central European Time (May 9 at 01.01 Kyiv time). The document was drawn up on English language and only the English text was recognized as official.
The Soviet representative, General Susloparov, who by this time had not received instructions from the Supreme High Command, signed the act with the caveat that this document should not exclude the possibility of signing another act at the request of one of the allied countries.
The text of the act of surrender signed in Reims differed from the document long ago developed and agreed upon between the allies. The document entitled "Unconditional Surrender of Germany" was approved by the government USA on August 9, 1944, by the government of the USSR on August 21, 1944 and by the government of England on September 21, 1944 and was an extensive text of fourteen clearly formulated articles, which, in addition to the military conditions of surrender, also stated that the USSR, the USA and England “will have in relation to Germany by the supreme power" and will present additional political, administrative, economic, financial, military and other demands. In contrast, the text signed at Reims was brief, containing only five articles and dealing exclusively with the question of the surrender of German armies on the battlefield.
After this, the West considered the war to be over. On this basis, the United States and Great Britain proposed that on May 8 the leaders of the three powers officially declare victory over Germany. Soviet government disagreed and demanded signing official act about the unconditional surrender of Germany, since fighting on the Soviet-German front were still ongoing. The German side, forced to sign the Reims Act, immediately violated it. German Chancellor Admiral Karl Doenitz ordered German troops on the Eastern Front to retreat to the west as quickly as possible, and, if necessary, fight their way there.
Stalin said that the Act must be solemnly signed in Berlin: “The agreement signed in Reims cannot be canceled, but it cannot be recognized either. Surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where fascist aggression came from , - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition." After this statement, the Allies agreed to hold a ceremony for the second signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany and its armed forces in Berlin.
Since it was not easy to find a whole building in the destroyed Berlin, they decided to carry out the procedure for signing the act in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst in the building where the club of the fortification school of sappers of the German Wehrmacht used to be located. There was a hall prepared for this purpose.
Acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from Soviet side was entrusted to Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov. Under the protection of British officers, a German delegation was brought to Karlshorst, which had the authority to sign an act of unconditional surrender.
On May 8, at exactly 22:00 Central European time (24:00 Kiev time), representatives of the Soviet Supreme High Command, as well as the Allied High Command, entered the hall decorated with the national flags of the Soviet Union, the USA, Britain and France. Present in the hall were Soviet generals whose troops took part in the storming of Berlin, as well as Soviet and foreign journalists. The ceremony of signing the act was opened by Marshal Zhukov, who welcomed representatives of the allied armies to the busy Soviet Army Berlin.
After this, on his orders, the German delegation was brought into the hall. At the suggestion of the Soviet representative, the head of the German delegation presented a document on his powers, signed by Doenitz. The German delegation was then asked whether it had the Act of Unconditional Surrender in its hands and whether it had studied it. After an affirmative answer, representatives of the German armed forces, at the sign of Marshal Zhukov, signed an act drawn up in nine copies (three copies each in Russian, English and German languages). Then representatives of the allied forces put their signatures.
On behalf of the German side, the act was signed by: the Chief of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, a representative of the Luftwaffe ( Air Force) Colonel General Hans Stumpf and representative of the Kriegsmarine ( Navy) Admiral Hans von Friedeburg. The unconditional surrender was accepted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov (from the Soviet side) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Marshal Arthur Tedder (Great Britain). General Karl Spaats (USA) and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (France) put their signatures as witnesses. The document stipulated that only English and Russian texts were authentic. One copy of the act was immediately handed to Keitel. Another original copy of the act on the morning of May 9 was delivered by plane to the Headquarters of the Supreme Command of the Red Army.
The procedure for signing the surrender ended on May 8 at 22.43 Central European time (May 9 at 0.43 Kyiv time). Finally, in the same building, a large reception was held for representatives of the Allies and guests, which lasted until the morning.
After the signing of the act, the German government was dissolved, and German troops completely laid down their arms.
The date of the official announcement of the signing of surrender (May 8 in Europe and America, May 9 in the USSR) began to be celebrated as Victory Day in Europe and the USSR, respectively.
A complete copy (i.e. in three languages) of the Act of Military Surrender of Germany, as well as the original document signed by Doenitz, certifying the powers of Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpf, are stored in the fund of international treaty acts of the Archive foreign policy Russian Federation. Another original copy of the act is located in Washington in the US National Archives.
The document signed in Berlin is, with the exception of unimportant details, a repetition of the text signed in Reims, but it was important that the German command surrendered in Berlin itself.
The act also contained an article that provided for the replacement of the signed text with “another general document of surrender.” Such a document, called the “Declaration of the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Power by the Governments of the Four Allied Powers,” was signed on June 5, 1945 in Berlin by the four Allied Commanders-in-Chief. It almost entirely reproduced the text of the document on unconditional surrender, developed in London by the European Advisory Commission and approved by the governments of the USSR, USA and Great Britain in 1944.
Now the building where the signing of the act took place houses the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst.
We firmly associate May 9 with Victory Day. This date is associated with the signing of the act of surrender of Nazi Germany. This is also written about in school textbooks. But other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition always celebrated Victory Day on May 8th. Where does this discrepancy come from and how did the Nazi leadership actually surrender?
In mid-April 1945, Soviet troops deployed a large offensive operation in the direction of Berlin and took the city in a matter of days. At that time, complete chaos reigned in the German army; in anticipation of the impending defeat, many Nazis committed suicide. Goebbels' propagandists clearly overdid it by telling myths about the “terrible Red Army soldiers.” Hitler, who was in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery, “capitulated”
April 30, committing suicide. And the very next day a red flag fluttered over the Reichstag.
However, the suicide of the Fuhrer and the fall of Berlin did not yet mean the surrender of Germany, which still had more than a million soldiers in the ranks. The new government of the country, led by Grand Admiral Karl Dennitz, was inclined to continue hostilities on the Eastern Front. In the western direction, the Germans pursued a policy of so-called private surrenders. Starting May 4 German armies one after another they laid down their arms in front of the Americans in Holland, Bavaria, Denmark, and Austria.
On May 7, 1945, at 2.41 in Reims, the United States and England arbitrarily accepted the surrender of Germany. From the USSR at the Allied headquarters as permanent representative Major General Ivan Susloparov was there. He was clearly not prepared for such an unexpected turn of events. Fearing that the act in Reims could infringe on the interests of the USSR, the general, before the signing ceremony, sent the text of the act of surrender to Moscow, requesting additional instructions. However, the answer never arrived by the appointed time. The head of the Soviet military mission found himself in a very delicate position. It is difficult to even imagine how this decision was given to him, but he agreed to sign the document virtually at his own peril and risk, including a clause in it about the possible repetition of the ceremony at the request of any of the allied states.
Susloparov’s foresight came in handy. Stalin was extremely annoyed by the signing of the surrender in Reims and categorically refused to recognize this document as final. It turned out really unfair and dishonest. The fighting on the Soviet-German front was still ongoing, but in the West the war was considered over. The Allies delayed the opening of the second front for almost three years under various pretexts, but they were a whole day ahead of the USSR in declaring Victory, thereby hoping to push back its contribution to the defeat of fascism.
This is what Marshal Zhukov recalled about this: “On May 7, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief called me in Berlin and said: “Today in Reims the Germans signed an act of unconditional surrender. The Soviet people bore the brunt of the war on their shoulders, not the allies. Therefore, the surrender must be signed before the Supreme Command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, and not just before the command of the allied forces.” Stalin demanded a new signing of the act of surrender in Berlin taken by the Red Army. The ceremony was scheduled for May 9 at 24.00 Moscow time.
From their table to the table of the presidium, where the Act of Unconditional Surrender was signed, the members of the German delegation had to walk exactly eight steps. This had a special meaning. This is how far the German delegation walked to Marshal Foch's trailer in 1918, when the Act of Surrender of Germany in the First World War was signed
In the middle of the day on May 8, representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces arrived at Tempelhof airfield in Berlin: Eisenhower's deputy, British Air Marshal Arthur Tedder, commander air force US General Carl Spaatz and French General Jean-Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny. From the airfield, the Allies headed to the Berlin suburb of Karlhorst. They were also taken there under the protection of the former chief of staff of the Wehrmacht Supreme Command, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Admiral General of the Fleet von Friedeburg and Colonel General of the Air Force Hans Stumpf.
Marshal Zhukov accepted the surrender from the Soviet side. They decided to hold the ceremony in the canteen of the military engineering school. Our fellow countryman from Borisov, Mikhail Filonov (unfortunately, he is no longer alive. - Author's note) was an eyewitness to this historical event. And this is what he told me:
— The school housed the headquarters
5th shock army 1st Belorussian Front. I served as a sapper at headquarters. And on the night of May 9, I was appointed duty officer in the hall. Most of the officers came to the conference directly from the front line. So they entered the hall - without ceremonial uniforms, awards, with order bars hastily fastened on. In a small smoking room nearby I saw Keitel nervously choking on cigarette smoke. The winners defiantly went out to smoke in the adjacent room.
After listening to the translator, Keitel suddenly stood up, approached with undisguised anger and sat down at the table. At that moment his monocle fell out. He corrected it and with a trembling hand began to quickly sign the Act. At these moments, something incredible was happening around. Photographers and cameramen, pushing each other, rushed to take historical footage. Someone even jumped on the table at which the generals were sitting. The hall was filled with smoke from the flashes of many cameras. The officers on duty had a hard time restoring order. After Keitel, the document was signed in turn by Zhukov and representatives of the USA, Great Britain and France. Then the German delegation was asked to leave the hall. It was 0 hours 43 minutes Moscow time.
Tatyana Koroleva, who worked as a waitress that day, recalls: “There was literally an explosion of emotions. Everyone started hugging, kissing, shouting and crying. They took autographs: some on money, some on photo cards or a notebook.” When everyone had calmed down, tables were brought in and food and drinks began to be set out. Snacks were brought specially from Moscow. Yes, what kind! Sturgeon, salmon, caviar... All this was washed down with vodka and cognac. The toasts sounded non-stop. They drank to the marshals, then to the infantry, pilots, tank crews, sailors, orderlies, army cooks. Suddenly someone remembered about the German delegation. Like, they probably need to be fed too. Everyone looked at Zhukov. After a moment’s pause, he ordered: “Bring them the vodka. Let them drink to our Victory!” Thus the end was put in the history of the most terrible war.
From the text of the Act of Military Surrender of the German Armed Forces:1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces... to cease hostilities at 23.01 hours Central European Time on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at that time and to completely disarm, having transferred all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers allocated by representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to ships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, as well as vehicles, weapons, apparatus and all military equipment in general -technical means of warfare.
3. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces will take such punitive measures or other actions they deem necessary.
TASS-DOSSIER /Alexey Isaev/. On May 8, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the German Armed Forces was signed in Karlshorst (a suburb of Berlin).
The document, signed in Reims at the level of chiefs of staff, was initially of a preliminary nature. Supreme Commander General Eisenhower did not sign the Joint Allied Expeditionary Forces. Moreover, he agreed to go to a “more official” ceremony in Berlin on May 8. However, political pressure was exerted on Eisenhower, both from Winston Churchill and from US political circles, and he was forced to abandon his trip to Berlin.
By order from Moscow by a representative of the Supreme High Command Soviet troops The commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, was appointed to sign the Act. On the morning of May 8, Andrei Vyshinsky arrived from Moscow as a political adviser. Zhukov chose the headquarters of the 5th Shock Army as the place for signing the Act of Unconditional Surrender. It was located in the building of a former military engineering school in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst. The officers' mess hall was prepared for the ceremony; the furniture was brought from the Reich Chancellery building.
In a short time, Soviet engineering units prepared the road from Tempelhof Airport to Karlshorst, the remains of enemy fortifications and barricades were blown up, and the rubble was cleared. On the morning of May 8, journalists, correspondents from all the largest newspapers and magazines in the world, and photo reporters began arriving in Berlin to capture the historical moment. legal registration defeat of the Third Reich.
At 14.00, representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces arrived at the Tempelhof airfield. They were met by Deputy Army General Sokolovsky, the first commandant of Berlin, Colonel General Berzarin (commander of the 5th Shock Army), and member of the Military Council of the Army, Lieutenant General Bokov.
The High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Force was represented by Eisenhower's deputy, British Air Chief Marshal Tedder, the US armed forces - by the commander of the Strategic Air Forces, General Spaats, and the French armed forces - by the Army Commander-in-Chief, General de Lattre de Tassigny. From Flensburg, under the protection of British officers, they were delivered to Berlin former boss the headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal Keitel, the Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral von Friedeburg, and Colonel General Stumpf, who had the authority to sign the Act of Unconditional Surrender from the government of K. Doenitz. The last to arrive was the French delegation.
Exactly at midnight Moscow time, as agreed in advance, the ceremony participants entered the hall. Georgy Zhukov opened the meeting with the words: “We, representatives of the Supreme Command of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces, are authorized by the governments of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition to accept the unconditional surrender of Germany from the German military command.”
Then Zhukov invited representatives of the German command to the hall. They were asked to sit at a separate table.
After confirming that the representatives of the German side had authority from the government, Denitsa Zhukov and Tedder asked whether they had the Instrument of Surrender in their hands, whether they had become acquainted with it and whether they agreed to sign it. Keitel agreed and prepared to sign the documents at his desk. However, Vyshinsky, as an expert in diplomatic protocol, whispered a few words to Zhukov, and the marshal said loudly: “Not there, but here. I suggest that the representatives of the German High Command come here and sign the Act of Unconditional Surrender.” Keitel was forced to go to a special table placed next to the table at which the Allies were sitting.
Keitel put his signature on all copies of the Act (there were nine of them). Following him, Admiral Friedeburg and Colonel General Stumpf did this.
After this, Zhukov and Tedder signed, followed by General Spaats and General de Lattre de Tassigny as witnesses. At 0 hours 43 minutes on May 9, 1945, the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was completed. Zhukov invited the German delegation to leave the hall.
The act consisted of six points: “1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, - The Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time the Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23.01 hours Central European Time on May 8th, 1945, to remain in their places where they are located at this time, and completely disarm, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to the local Allied commanders or officers assigned by representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to steamships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, and machinery , weapons, apparatus and all military-technical means of warfare in general.
3. The German High Command will immediately assign the appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.
4. This act shall not be an obstacle to its replacement by another general instrument of surrender, concluded by or on behalf of the United Nations, applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces will take such punitive measures, or other actions they deem necessary.
6. This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English lyrics are authentic."
The differences from the Act of Surrender signed in Reims were minor in form, but significant in content. So, instead of Soviet High Command (Soviet Supreme Command), the name Supreme High Command of the Red Army was used ( Supreme Command Red Army). Safety clause military equipment has been expanded and supplemented. A separate point was made regarding the language issue. The point about the possibility of signing another document remained unchanged.
The most terrible war in the history of mankind ended in victory for the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Nowadays the Russian-German Surrender Museum operates in Karlshorst.
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USSR USSR,
Great Britain Great Britain,
USA USA,
France France
Act of unconditional surrender of the Germans armed forces (English) German Instrument of Surrender, fr. Actes de capitulation de l'Allemagne nazie, German Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht) - a legal document that established a truce on the fronts of the Second World War directed against Germany, obliging German military personnel to cease resistance, surrender personnel and transfer the material part of the armed forces to the enemy, which actually meant Germany’s exit from the war.
The act was signed by representatives of the Wehrmacht High Command, the High Command of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union on May 7 at 02:41 p.m. in Reims (France). The surrender of Nazi Germany took effect on May 8 at 23:01 Central European Time.
The dates of the official announcement by the heads of state of the signing of capitulation - May 8 in European countries and May 9 in the USSR - began to be celebrated in the respective countries as Victory Day.
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Signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany / German Instrument of Surrender
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The idea of Germany's unconditional surrender was first announced by President Roosevelt on January 13, 1943 at a conference in Casablanca and has since become the official position of the United Nations. The draft text of the document on surrender has been developed by the European Advisory Commission since January 1944; the text (called “Terms of German Surrender”) was agreed upon at the end of July and approved by the heads of the Allied governments. This extensive document was sent in particular to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (S.H.A.E.F), where, however, it was perceived not as mandatory instructions, but as recommendations. Therefore, when on May 4-5, 1945, the question of Germany’s surrender practically arose, the Allied headquarters did not use the existing document (perhaps fearing that disputes over the political articles contained in it would complicate negotiations with the Germans), but developed their own short, purely military document, which was ultimately signed. The text was developed by a group of American officers from the entourage of Allied Commander-in-Chief Dwight Eisenhower; the primary author of the text was Colonel Philimore of 3rd (Operations) Section SHAEF. In order for it not to contradict the draft of the European Commission, at the suggestion of the English diplomat Ambassador Weinand, Article 4 was introduced into the text of the document, which provided for the possibility of replacing this act with “another general instrument of surrender concluded by the United Nations or on their behalf” (some Russian sources However, the idea of this article is attributed to the Soviet representative at the Allied command Susloparov).
Partial surrenders
On the same day, the new head of the German government, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, had a meeting. Assessing the military situation as hopeless, the meeting participants decided to concentrate their main efforts on saving as many Germans as possible from the Red Army, avoiding military action in the West and continuing actions against the Anglo-Americans only to the extent that they would hinder attempts German troops evade the Red Army. Since, in view of the agreements between the USSR and the Western allies, it is difficult to achieve capitulation only in the West, a policy of private capitulations should be pursued at the level of army groups and below.
On May 4, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Fleet Admiral Hans-Georg Friedeburg, signed the act of surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and North-West Germany to the 21st Army Group of Field Marshal B. Montgomery.
On May 5, Infantry General F. Schultz, who commanded Army Group G operating in Bavaria and Western Austria, capitulated to the American General D. Devers. However, in the south the Reich still had a large group of army groups “Center” and “Austria” (formerly “South”) under the command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.
First act
Having signed the act of surrender of German troops in the north in Lüneburg on May 4, Admiral Friedeburg went to Eisenhower's headquarters, located in Reims, in order, on the instructions of Dönitz, to raise before him the question of the surrender of German troops on the Western Front. Since, due to bad weather, he was forced to travel from Brussels to Reims by car, the German delegation arrived in Reims only at 17:00 on May 5. Meanwhile, Eisenhower told his chief of staff, Walter Bedell Smith, that there would be no bargaining with the Germans and he did not intend to see the Germans until they signed the terms of surrender. The negotiations were entrusted to Generals W. B. Smith and Carl Strong (the latter participated in the negotiations for the surrender of Italy in 1943).
The negotiations took place in the premises of the operations department of the Allied headquarters (this headquarters was located in a building that was called the “red school building”, actually in the building of a technical college). In order to demonstrate to Friedeburg the futility of the Germans' position, Smith ordered the walls to be hung with maps indicating the situation on the fronts, as well as maps indicating attacks supposedly being prepared by the Allies. These maps made a great impression on Friedeburg. Friedeburg offered Smith the surrender of the remaining German troops on the Western Front; Smith replied that Eisenhower refused to continue negotiations unless the offer of surrender also applied to the Eastern Front: only a general surrender was possible, and the troops in the West and East must remain in their places. To this Friedeburg replied that he did not have the authority to sign a general surrender. Having studied the text of the act of surrender presented to him, Friedeburg telegraphed Dönitz, asking permission to sign a general surrender or to send Keitel and the commanders of the air and naval forces to do so.
Dönitz considered the terms of surrender unacceptable and sent Jodl, who was known as a categorical opponent of surrender in the East, to Reims. Jodl had to explain to Eisenhower why general surrender was impossible. He arrived in Reims on the evening of 6 May. After an hour-long discussion with him, Smith and Strong came to the conclusion that the Germans were simply playing for time in order to have time to transport as many troops and refugees to the West as possible, which they reported to Eisenhower. The latter told Smith to tell the Germans that “If they do not stop making excuses and stalling for time, I will immediately close the entire Allied front and forcefully stop the flow of refugees through the disposition of our troops. I will not tolerate any further delay.". Having received this answer, Jodl realized that his situation was hopeless and asked Dönitz for authority for a general surrender. Dönitz called Eisenhower’s behavior “real blackmail,” however, also realizing the hopelessness of the situation, shortly after midnight on May 7, he instructed Keitel to answer: "Grand Admiral Dönitz grants full authority to sign in accordance with the proposed terms". The signing ceremony was scheduled for 2:30 am. The act of surrender was supposed to come into force at 23:01 on May 8, that is, almost two days after signing - Dönitz hoped to use this time to move as many troops and refugees to the West as possible.
May 6 at SHAEF Representatives of the allied commands were summoned: members of the Soviet mission, General Susloparov and Colonel Zenkovich, as well as the deputy chief of the Supreme National Defense Staff of France, General Sevez (the chief of staff, General Juin, was in San Francisco at the founding conference of the UN). Eisenhower tried in every possible way to calm the suspicion of Soviet representatives, who believed that the Anglo-American allies were ready to come to terms with the Germans behind their backs. As for the role of Sevez, who signed the act as a witness, it turned out to be insignificant: the general, being a pure military man, did not try to defend the prestigious interests of France and, in particular, did not protest against the absence of the French flag in the room where the surrender was signed. Eisenhower himself refused to participate in the signing ceremony of the act for protocol reasons, since German side The ceremony was presented by the chief of staff, not the commander-in-chief - the ceremony was thus held at the level of the chiefs of staff.
The act was signed on May 7 at 02:41 (Central European time) by the chief of the operational headquarters of the German Army High Command, Colonel General Alfred Jodl. The surrender was accepted: from the Anglo-American side, Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Walter Bedell Smith, from the USSR - the representative of the Supreme High Command of the Allied Command, Major General Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov. The act was also signed by the Deputy Chief of the French National Defense Staff, Brigadier General François Sevez, as a witness.The English text of this act is authentic.
Although a group of 17 journalists attended the signing ceremony, the United States and Britain agreed to delay the public announcement of the surrender in order to Soviet Union could prepare a second surrender ceremony in Berlin. The reporters took an oath that they would report the surrender only 36 hours later - at exactly 3 o'clock in the afternoon on May 8, 1945.
Without waiting for a message about the ceremony, Dönitz gave (at 1 hour 35 minutes) the following order to Field Marshal Kesselring and General Winter, which was also transmitted for information to the commander of Army Group Center F. Scherner, the commander of the troops in Austria L. von Rendulic and the commander of the South -East A. Leroux: “The task is to withdraw to the west as many troops as possible operating on the Eastern Front, while, if necessary, fighting through the disposition of Soviet troops. Immediately cease all hostilities against the Anglo-American troops and give the order to the troops to surrender to them. The general surrender will be signed today at Eisenhower Headquarters. Eisenhower promised Colonel General Jodl that hostilities would cease on May 9, 1945 at 0:00 a.m. German summer time...” .
On May 7 at 14:41, German radio (from Flensburg) officially announced the signing of the surrender. The Foreign Minister of the Dönitz government, Count Schwerin von Krosigg, made the following speech:
Germans and German women!
The Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, on the orders of Grand Admiral Dönitz, announced the unconditional surrender of the German troops. As the leading minister of the Reich Government, formed by the Grand Admiral to complete all military tasks, I address the German people at this tragic moment in our history...
No one should be mistaken about the severity of the conditions that our opponents will impose on us. It is necessary, without any loud phrases, to look them in the face clearly and soberly. No one can doubt that the coming times will be harsh for each of us and will require sacrifices from us in all areas of life. We are obliged to bring them and be loyal to all the obligations that we undertake. But we do not dare to despair and indulge in dull resignation to fate. We must find a way to get out of this darkness onto the path of our future. Let unity, law and freedom serve as our three guiding stars, which have always been the guarantee of a truly German essence...
We must base our folk life right. Justice must become the highest law and the main guiding thread for our people. We must recognize law both from our inner conviction and as the basis of our relations with other peoples. Respect for the treaties concluded must be as sacred to us as the feeling of belonging to the European family of nations, as a member of which we want to bring all our human, moral and material forces to flourish in order to heal the terrible wounds inflicted by the war.
Then we can hope that the atmosphere of hatred that now surrounds Germany throughout the world will give way to that reconciliation of peoples, without which the healing of the world is unthinkable, and that freedom will again give us its signal, without which no people can live decently and with dignity.
We want to see the future of our people in the awareness of the deepest and best forces every living person to whom the world has given lasting creations and values. With pride in the heroic struggle of our people, we will combine the desire, as a link in Western Christian culture, to contribute to honest, peaceful work in the spirit of the best traditions of our people. May God not leave us in our trouble, may He sanctify our difficult work!
Another hour later, the German surrender was reported by the Associated Press, whose reporter, Edward Kennedy, after the German report, considered himself free from the promise to keep the event secret. However, Kennedy was fired from the agency, and silence about the surrender continued in the West for another day - only on the afternoon of May 8 was it officially announced. In the Soviet Union, information about the surrender of May 7 was also initially banned, but then, after the signing of the final act in Karlshorst, the Reims preliminary protocol of surrender was mentioned by J.V. Stalin in his address to the Soviet people, broadcast on the radio at 21 o'clock 9th May.
- in the English text, the expression Soviet High Command was replaced by a more accurate translation of the Soviet term: Supreme High Command of the Red Army;
- The part of Article 2, which deals with the obligation of the Germans to hand over military equipment intact, has been expanded and detailed;
- The indication of the act on May 7 was withdrawn: “Only this text in English is authoritative” and Article 6 was inserted, which read: “This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic".
According to most sources, on May 8 at 22:43 Central European time (at 00:43, May 9 Moscow time) in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, in the building of the former canteen of the military engineering school, the final act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. Not included in the text of the act exact date its signing is indicated on May 8, 1945. Some sources indicate the date of signing the act after midnight Central European time, that is, May 9 - at approximately 00:15 or 00:43 (Keitel signed at 00:16).
Thus, at the time of signing final act It was 23.15 in Western European time, 00.15 in Central European time, and 02.15 in Moscow time.
The text of the act basically repeats word for word the text of May 7, including even Article 4, which has now lost its real meaning. The Karlshorst Act also confirmed the time of the ceasefire - May 8 at 23:01 Central European time (May 9 at 01:01 Moscow time). The changes in the text of the act were as follows:
On behalf of the German side, the act was signed by: Field Marshal General, Chief of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht Wilhelm Keitel, Luftwaffe representative Colonel General Stumpf and Kriegsmarine Admiral von Friedeburg. The unconditional surrender was accepted by Marshal Zhukov (from the Soviet side) and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Marshal Tedder (English: Arthur William Tedder) (Great Britain). The general signed their signatures as witnesses.
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